Work together to prevent dengue and Zika

DENGUE fever is a major cause of mortality and morbidity (state of being unhealthy) in our country. Last year, there were 125,000 cases of dengue, with 325 deaths, reported. One must understand that for these cases, blood tests were done to confirm dengue fever and these were reported to the Health Ministry.

The practice of letting a fever run its course is still deeply embedded in the minds of the general public and the number of cases that go undiagnosed could easily be 10 times the reported figure. Not every death in Malaysia undergoes postmortem and the actual mortality caused by dengue is anyone’s guess.